Only In Your Nightmares
by picturebookgirl
Summary: Prom was supposed to be big, bold and beautiful; the best day of Massie's high school life. But it all went horribly wrong because of one psycho killer... who is closer to Massie then she can ever imagine. T for horror. R/R please
1. Preface

**PREFACE**

* * *

_Massie Block had heard the screams all around her and knew that it was going to be her time soon. _

_Tears poured out of her eyes. It was supposed to be the best day of her high school life. And now, it's all going to end, along with her life._

_Massie saw a shadow coming closer and closer towards her. She tried to scream, but nothing came out of her hoarse throat. Gulping in air, she knew that this was her last living moments._

_The shadow finally pulled up, engulfing Massie's space. The shadow then pulled off the hood covering its face, revealing its identity to its last victim._

_Massie gasped. "How could you," she croaked out._

_The figure laughed and plunged a knife into her heart, silencing its beat forever..._

* * *

**_Yay? Nay? Should I keep going with this story?_**

**_SkyexHIGH_**


	2. I Told You So

**I Told You So**

* * *

"_**There have been a series of murders in Westchester Private High. Though the police have no leads, they know that the murders have all been by the same person who we nicknamed "Claw". This came to be because on every dead body that "Claw' had been suspected of killing, a cat's claw had been drawn onto the face of the corpse with the victim's own blood. Though the killings have been random, the victims all have one thing in common; they were students of Westchester Private High."**_**-Extract from **_**The Journal News, **_**Westchester Ed.**

--

"_**Dempsey Solomon: Beloved son, brother and friend. If you would like to mourn for him, his funeral is going to be held on Tuesday, 22 September..."**_**-Extract from **_**The Westchester Voice**_**, Birth and Death Section.**

* * *

**The Block Estate**

**Massie's Bedroom**

**Wednesday, 23 September**

**7.00 am**

Massie Block woke up to an alarm ringing in her ear. She groaned and rolled over, causing her four-poster bed to creak in protest.

She was tempted to stay in bed for a little longer but then remembered that today was the most important day of her senior year.

PROM.

She and the Pretty Committee had decided to take a day off today to get ready for prom tonight. Even Kristen, who had perfect attendance, agreed to ditch school today. They were going to spend the whole day primping and pampering for the biggest night of their lives.

Massie had been scared that the school was going to cancel prom because of the murders that had been happening in school. But the student's relief, prom was still going to happen but it was just going to be heavily guarded and chaperoned. Though students have complained about this, Massie was secretly relieved because she didn't want Claw to ruin her senior prom, especially since she was the most likely candidate of Prom Queen this year.

Massie hopped out of bed and slipped into her suede slippers. She padded into her ensuite and took a shower. She pulled on her thick purple bathrobe on and tightened the belt around her petite waist.

Her walk-in wardrobe welcomed her in as she banged open its wooden door. The plush carpet tickled her bare toes as she walked past the racks and racks of designer clothes, some never been worn before.

Skimming her fingers past the A's and B's of her meticulously alphabetised wardrobe, she came across a pair of Sevens jeans that had somehow managed its way there. She gasped, horrified, wondering how this had happened. Massie yanked them of the rack, not caring if they ripped. She strode across the wardrobe and placed the jeans on the "S" rack.

Exhaling how she got taught in her Yoga classes, Massie calmed down. She then went into the front compartment of her wardrobe, where she had placed today's outfit, ready and waiting. It was the perfect pampering outfit; sexy yet comfortable with a pair of low-rise dark wash True Religion jeans paired with a flowing royal purple singlet and a black crop jacket. On her feet was a pair of Christian Louboutin sequined ballet flats in silver. The outfit was all topped off with a pair of oversized Fendi sunglasses.

Massie glanced at herself in the mirror. _Def a 10_, she thought to herself.

She squirted a last dash of Chanel No.5 on herself and walked out of her room. In the dining room, she grabbed a non-fat muffin from the tray and dashed out of the house where Isaac was waiting for her in the car. She flung the door open and slid into the plush leather of the butter-coloured seats.

"You know where to go. I gave you the list like, last month," Massie pouted.

Isaac nodded and rolled his eyes. Massie had been planning for this day her whole life and Isaac knew every bit of detail about it. He turned the engine on and sped off towards the first house on the list; Alicia's mansion.

10 minutes later, the car pulled up into Alicia's driveway. Alicia opened the door and hopped in.

"What do you think?" Alicia asked, talking about her outfit.

Massie eyed the ensemble and nodded. "8.5," Massie nodded.

Alicia grinned, though a bit disappointed that none of the other Pretty Committee was here to witness the fact that she had just gotten an 8.5. This was basically unheard of!

Isaac rolled his eyes again and pulled out of the driveway and towards the next houses on the list.

Massie then gave out a loud screech.

"EhmaGAWD! We forgot Kuh-laire!"

Alicia gasped. Isaac then stopped, waiting for Massie's command.

"Turn back, Isaac, TURN BACK!"

Isaac nodded and turned back into the direction of the Block's estate. He then sighed. This was going to be one long morning.

**Jakkob's Salon**

**Seat 3**

**Wednesday, 32 September**

**8.30 am**

It took a while to round everybody up but finally, the Pretty Committee arrived at Jakkob's salon with only seconds to spare for their 8.30 styling session. Seats 3 to 7 were taken up by the members of the Pretty Committee.

"Ehmagawd, this so cool!" Claire squealed for the umpteenth time. Massie rolled her eyes underneath her Fendi shades.

"Massie, I must ask you to take your shades off, please," Jakkob purred "though they are cuh-yute!"

Massie pouted and took them off.

"Happy now?"

Jakkob smiled and started to wash her hair.

--

An hour later, the Pretty Committee all had their heads underneath hairdryers. Massie scanned her eye to the seats next to her. Alicia was reading a magazine, Claire was dozing off, Kristen was texting and... where was Dylan?

Massie scanned her eyes around the salon but couldn't find her. Jakkob saw her looking and went over to the worried looking girl.

"What's wrong Massie?"Jakkob asked

"Where's Dylan?" Massie asked, her voice rising. Her mind flashed to the news report she read about the psycho killer that was on the loose. She shook the disturbing thought out of her mind.

"The redhead? She's outside I think."

Massie looked at Jakkob with puppy dog eyes and he tutted. He didn't like it when customers walked out in the middle of drying their hair. But Massie was practically his best customer so he took the big headpiece off her. Massie hopped out of the big chair and scuttled outside.

Massie opened the big glass door and stepped outside, into fresh air. She then saw Dylan next to the salon door, trembling, holding a cigarette.

"Hey! What's wrong, Dyl?"

Dylan shook her head and wiped the tears away. "Nothing."

Massie put her arms around Dylan's shoulders and smelt the thick air of cigarette smoke around her. Dylan then broke down. She pulled out her iPhone out of her pocket and showed Massie the screen. Opened, was a text message from an unknown sender.

**Unknown Sender: **I'm going to get you next and end your miserable little life tonight. Don't cry; instead thank me for making it end so easily.

Massie looked at the text message, dumbstruck. What sort of psycho would do this to Dylan?

Massie shook her head and comforted Dylan. Then, she broke the big news.

"I don't think I want to go to prom tonight, Mas,"

Massie pulled away. She NEEDED Dylan tonight. Without her, the formation would be incomplete.

"No. You must come tonight. There is no way the killer would crash prom. Not with all the chaperones and bodyguards at the event. And you'd probably be safer at prom than at home, all alone."

Dylan sniffled but nodded. What Massie said made sense.

"Ok. But if anything happens..."

"I promise you, nothing will."

The two of them hugged and then walked back into the salon, arm in arm.

Massie sat back down and Jakkob placed the headpiece back on her head. She was beginning to relax when her Treo rang. Massie huffed but pulled it out.

**1 New Message From: Unknown Sender**

Massie shrugged and clicked the envelope icon to open the message.

**Unknown Sender:** Dump your escort and do it now. Look what happened to Dempsey Solomon when you didn't dump him fast enough.

Attached was a picture of Dempsey's corpse with "Claw's" mark painted on in blood on his pretty makeover-ed face. Massie gasped at his decapitated head. She felt bile rise in her mouth but pushed it down, scared that if she puked, she might be labelled bulimic.

Massie swallowed the bile down and quickly closed the message along with the picture. Her and Dempsey had been going out almost all senior year and was shocked how he had been the first of many of Claw's victims. She had just gone to his funeral yesterday and was still feeling sad about his recent death. But because of Dempsey's death, Massie had been in a sticky position of not having an escort. So she asked Derrick, her ex before she started dating Dempsey, to go with her. Massie was lucky that Derrick was still available because of how popular he is, both in school and with the ladies.

But if Massie dumped Derrick, she would have nobody to escort her at prom. All the blood, sweat and tears that went into planning her dream prom would all go to waste. So Massie decided to ignore the text message.

Her phone buzzed again. Massie decided to ignore it.

Her phone buzzed again. And again. And again. Jakkob looked at Massie strangely.

Feeling a bit freaked out, Massie pulled out her phone and stared at the screen.

**10 New Messages from: Unknown Sender**

She clicked onto the envelope icon and stared at the message

**Unknown Sender:** Got a shock? It'll be worse if you don't dump him. NOW

Massie opened the rest of the messages. It all said the same thing.

She tried not to show her fear. Ok, so the psycho text freak knows how to text bomb someone. Big deal.

Massie tried to relax as Jakkob trimmed and styled her hair. As Jakkob massaged her skull, she started to feel its effect and began to unwind.

Then it happened. Jakkobs electrical scissors became uncontrollable. It began to spaz all over Massie's hair, cutting out big clumps of thick, auburn hair.

"Turn it off!" Massie screeched hysterically, watching her hair fall out.

One of Jakkob's assistants ran over to the power outlet and yanked the plug out. The scissors let out a loud splutter and fell dead in Jakkobs shaking hands.

"EhmaGAWD! How bad is the damage?" Massie screamed.

Jakkob spun her around to face the mirror and Massie saw that there was a whole chunk of hair that had been cut off on bottom of the left side, making it noticeably uneven.

Jakkob sighed. "Well, I can fix that,"

"You'd BETTER fix it! Or I'll get Alicia's parents to SUE THIS FREAKING SALON BROKE."

Jakkob grimaced and started to work on Massie's damaged hair.

Shaking in rage, she began to take yoga breaths and eventually settled down. Then, her phone buzzed alive. Massie yelped and took the buzzing thing out of her pocket.

**1 New Message From: Unknown Sender**

Rage got replaced with fear as she clicked on the envelope button with shaking fingers.

**Unknown Sender: **I told you you'd get a shock if you didn't dump him. Too bad your hair didn't get as damaged as I wanted it to be. But soon, I'll make it as damaged as I want it to be. Along with your pretty little body.

Massie let out a shallow breath and looked around the salon to see if anyone was watching her. But it was only the Pretty Committee, Jakkob, his assistants and a group of old ladies who probably have no idea what a cellphone is, let alone try to send messages through an encrypted number.

Massie calmed herself down. She wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to let a few text messages scare her. She was going to go along with her plan and have the best night of her life.

* * *

_Claw looked up from the phone screen and chuckled. _I guess I have to try harder with Massie then,_ the figure thought out loud. _

_Claw scrolled down the phone's menu and finally came across today's What-To-Do list. Its fingers scrolled down the page and stopped at number 3 on the list._

Alicia, huh,_ Claw mused_.

_This should be easy._

**

* * *

**

_**ARGH.! The story is starting to sound like the Pretty Little Liars series.! D: Next chappie is going to be mostly about Alicia getting a taste of Claw.**_

_**Liked THIS chapter? Revieeeeeeeew.! (:**_

_**SkyexHIGH**_


	3. Trying Way Too Hard

Ahhh! To answer xoJEWEL26... I'm not sure why... haha. I'm not even sure when prom is supposed to be so I just picked a random date close to the end of the school year. And I live somewhere that starts school in February and ends school in mid December and I thought that prom is usually at the end of the school year? Yeah, sorry to everyone who thinks the date is annoying!

* * *

**Trying Way Too Hard**

* * *

_**Unknown Sender:**__** Ignoring my messages won't help you. I'm warning you, the last thing you'll ever see is yourself in the mirror if you don't throw away your prom dress. Now. –**_**Text sent to Alicia's phone, received at 4.30 pm, 01.09.09:**

_**Unknown Sender:**__** Red would be the last colour you see if you don't ditch your dress. Red not only from your dress, but also from your blood. – **_**Text sent to Alicia's phone, received at 4.31 pm, 01.09.09**

_**Unknown Sender:**__** If you would just read your text messages and do what I say, you would have the best prom of anyone's life. But right now, all that's destined for your prom night is a whole lot of bloodshed if you don't ditch the dress. – **_**Text sent to Alicia's phone, received at 4.32 pm, 01.09.09.**

--

**Jakkob's Salon**

**Seat 4**

**Wednesday, 23 September**

**8.55 am**

Alicia saw what had happened to Massie's hair and grimaced. Maybe I should take the text messages seriously as well, Alicia though, feeling scared.

She, like Massie, had also gotten a few scary text messages. But it wasn't about Josh or anything. It was about her prom dress.

Alicia had bought the most gorgeous prom dress, maybe even better than Massie's prom dress. It was a slinky red number with a plunging neckline that looked almost sluttish on her growing boobs, but managed not to. The back was low and it zipped up to mid-back. It was the dress of all prom dresses.

And although Massie didn't say so, Alicia could tell that she was jealous of the dress. Maybe even jealous enough to... kill for it?

* * *

_Flashback..._

**New York City**

**Barneys' Changing Room**

**Tuesday, 1 September**

**4.15 pm**

"Prom is in FOUR WEEKS, Leesh!" Massie screeched from the changing room in Barneys. Barneys had been her last hope of finding THE perfect prom dress. And so far, there had been no luck.

Massie tossed a red slinky dress through the material door at Alicia's C-cupped chest. Alicia caught it just before it could hit the ground.

"Ugh! Leesh, pass me that black one, will you?"Massie poked her head through the material. But Alicia wasn't listening. She was looking at the dress Massie had just rejected.

"Huh. Can I try this on if you don't like it?" Alicia asked.

"Sure. But can you pass me that black one first?"

Alicia nodded and passed Massie a black babydoll dress. She ripped the curtain open to the stall next to Massie's and started to undress. Then, she slipped the dress through her head, feeling the silkiness ripple through her body.

Alicia closed her eyes and turned towards the mirror. What was she doing in a dress that got rejected by Massie Block? If this didn't look good on Massie, then it would look terrible on Alicia.

Alicia opened her eyes and gasped. The dress was perfect for her. It hugged her curves in all the right places and covered her "problem" areas as if they weren't even there. But the best part was that it made her boobs look un-sluttish but still sexy.

"Mass! You have to see this!"

Massie stepped out of her own changing room in a badly fitted black babydoll dress.

"What?" She said grumpily.

Alicia stepped out of her changing room, feeling like a superstar.

"EhmaGAWD Leesh! That's spectacular!" Massie looked happy for her but Alicia could see the envious glint in her eyes. Massie Block never likes being beaten.

Alicia smiled smugly. It felt good.

"Well, let's go then. Just let me change out of this thing and pay for your dress."

As Massie was changing out of the dress, Alicia took the time to take a picture of her in the dress and send it around to the rest of the Pretty Committee. She smiled smugly as she got admiring texts back from her friends.

**Dylan:** EhmaGAWD! A total 9.5! It makes you look TOH-TALLY slimmin'!

**Kristen:** I'm totally jealous! That looks hot as!

**Claire:** Cute dress! You're going to be the envy of the prom!

Alicia was contemplating about whether she should text Josh but decided not to. She wanted to surprise him.

Carefully, she slipped out of the dress and changed into her own clothes. She thrust the curtain open and found Massie waiting for her, impatiently tapping her foot.

"Come AWN! What have you been doing in there? Taking pictures of you in the dress and sending it to the rest of the PC?"

Alicia blushed at Massie's accuracy. But she didn't see Alicia blush since she was already striding towards the cash register.

Alicia placed the dress on the counter and saw the approving look on the salesgirl's face. Massie saw the look as well and sniffed. Alicia saw the envious glint in her eyes reappear.

The salesgirl swiped Alicia's card and folded up the dress. Her hand reached underneath the counter and pulled out a sleek, black Barneys bag. She carefully placed the red dress into the bag and handed it to Alicia with a smile.

"Enjoy your purchase. That's a gorgeous dress you bought."

Alicia grinned back as Massie pulled them both away from the counter.

When they were out of the store, Massie pulled a face at the building. Alicia giggled.

"This store blows," Massie sneered. Then she pulled her phone out to call Isaac to pick the two of them up.

"Are we going home now?" Alicia asked, sounding a bit whiny. "You haven't even found your dress yet!"

Massie nodded. "I've decided I'm going to order my dress from Paris. I'll get Kendra to pick it up for me when she goes on one of her business trips or something. What a waste of an afternoon."

Alicia shrugged, not agreeing or disagreeing with her. She knew that she was feeling bitter because Alicia found the perfect dress before she did. It was like the time Massie found out that Alicia had gotten her period before she did. Massie had made jokes about it the whole week, resulting the whole year to find out about it.

"Come awn. I told Isaac to pick us up at Starbucks so we can go and grab a drink there or something." Massie tugged Alicia's arm, making her nearly drop the precious shopping bag. Alicia huffed, hugging the Barneys bag close to her and allowed herself to be led by Massie Block.

* * *

_Flashforward_

**Jakkob's Salon**

**Seat 4**

**Wednesday, 23 September**

**9.00 am**

Of course, two weeks later, Massie found the perfect prom dress. It was a full length, purple (of course!) strapless number with a silver belt that would have looked tacky if anyone else had worn it. But on Massie, it had looked absolutely stunning. She had sent the Pretty Committee pictures of her posing in the dress. The other had agreed that it looked really good but Alicia knew that the others thought that her dress had looked better. The others even hinted that Alicia's looked better than Massie's.

Alicia had witnessed what had happened to Massie's hair. She, like the others, was sympathetic but secretly, she was pleased that Massie was put down a notch.

While Jakkob was frantically trying to fix Massie's hair, Alicia was leaning back in her chair, relaxed. Her hairdresser, Meadows, was nearly done with her do and Alicia was happy with what she had done to her hair.

Meadows was putting the finishing touches to her hair when she heard her phone twinkle in her pocket. She fished it out of the pocket of her grey Rock & Republic jeans and glanced at the screen.

**1 New Message From: Unknown Sender.**

Alicia opened it, a bit scared. This wasn't the first time that she had gotten a text message from an unknown sender. She had deleted them all without reading them.

Alicia was about to delete this one like the rest but her curiosity got the better of her. She clicked it open.

**Unknown:** You want to go to prom alive? Then you'd better discard your dress. Or you'll be in for one big, explosive, surprise.

Alicia laughed at the absurdity of the text message until she saw the picture attached.

It was the picture that Alicia had taken of her in the dress against the mirror of Barneys about four weeks ago. But it had been altered. The dress was now photoshoped so it looked like it had been put through a fiery accident. Alicia had been altered so she looked, literally, in pieces. Her head looked like it was floating in mid air and her eyes had crosses going across it, like a dead fish. It was absolutely disgusting.

_It's gotta be Massie,_ Alicia thought angrily, _she was the only one who was unhappy about the dress looking good on me._

She shook her head. She wasn't going to listen to text message. It was the perfect prom dress and she wasn't going to let it go to waste because of some jealous, probably dateless, loser who was going to stay at home, pigging out while Alicia was at prom, having the best time of her life.

Alicia put her foot down. No way was she going to waste the dress.

She heard her phone tinkle again.

**1 Message From: Unknown Sender**

**Unknown:** I knew you were always the stubborn one and the stubborn ones always go first. I'll take the time to say goodbye to you now. It's been nice knowing you and I'll be watching out for the fireworks display you produce ;p

Alicia deleted the message. _What fireworks display?_ Alicia mused. She shrugged it off.

"There. All done." Meadows smiled at Alicia in the mirror. Alicia unglued her eyes from her phone and looked at her hair. It was exactly what she wanted, her lush, dark brown hair down in ringlets and her fringe puffed up with a perfect coiffure. Simple, yet striking.

Alicia gasped at her perfect reflection and smiled. No way was Massie going to beat her now. Not with her hair in that state.

Alicia glanced to her side and gasped, this time in envy. Massie's hair was GORGEOUS. It did not look like hair that had been through an accident. Jakkob had tapered it Jennifer Anniston style so now it was short in the front and long at the back and had give her blond lowlights. It framed her heart shaped face perfectly.

Alicia quickly turned back around in her chair. Her reflection didn't look so perfect this time. It looked just like she was trying way too hard.

* * *

_Claw smiled. Alicia had finally read one of her text messages and got one hell of a shock._

_Claw liked to see people in shock. It almost felt as good as making people's lives a misery. _

But not nearly as good as feeling the victim's blood run through my fingers, _Claw mused, a smile playing on her face._

_The cursor scrolled through the "To-Do" list._

4) Claire

Such a sweet, innocent person_, Claw sighed but shrugged it off._

_Now, this was going to be fun._

* * *

**_Another chappie done, done and done ;p. Argh, school starting up again and homework is trickling in... so chappies are going to come our slower!! Bear with me D:_**

**_SkyexHIGH_**


	4. Love But Not In Love

**Love But Not In Love**

* * *

**To-Do List**

_Set up an account so I can send text messages through a cryptic number. _**DONE**

_Massie - Make her dump Derrick. Or he's going to be mine to eat. Literally. _**DONE**

_Alicia – That dress has got to go. If it doesn't, it's going to cause MAJOR sparks. And I mean MAJOR. _**DONE**

_Claire – Would you rather be the school's biggest loser or die? She'd better make the decision soon or I'm going to give her a taste of both._

_Dylan – TBA_

_Kristen – TBA_

* * *

**Jakkob's Salon**

**Seat 5**

**Wednesday, 23 September**

**8.55 pm**

Claire had seen what had happened to Massie's gorgeous locks and nearly screamed. She took this as a bad omen.

She too, like the rest of the Pretty Committee, had received some pretty disturbing text messages. But hers had hit her weakest point. Massie.

Next to her, Alicia's hair was getting its final bits and bobs done. Claire sighed. Alicia looked so... carefree. _I bet she has "anonymous" texter annoying her about anything, _Claire thought wistfully, _I wish I was Alicia right now, with no problems._

Little does she know...

Claire's own hair was a mess. Her hairdresser, Jai, had complained how brittle and un-conditioned it was and had nearly refused to do Claire's hair. But one look from Massie had shut him up.

Jai sighed in frustration as a clump of hair from Claire's updo came loose. With a can of hairspray armed in his hand, he grabbed the loose strands and pressed it down one side of her head. Then, he sprayed the section with masses of hairspray, sending Claire into a heap of coughs.

What Jai was trying to do was put Claire's hair into a sleek, high ponytail. While this doesn't sound very hard to do, Claire's hair was cut in very bad layers, making sections of her hair impossible to tie back. Also, Claire had requested Massie to tell her hairdresser to not cut her hair.

"Now please, for the sake of Massie's sexy Fendi shades, DO NOT move your head." Jai pouted.

Claire started to nod but Jai's glare stopped her from doing so.

She sat there, fiddling with a silver heart shaped locket around her neck, waiting for the rest of the Pretty Committee to finish their sessions. As she was just getting comfortable, she heard two loud BEEPS, telling everyone in the world that she had just received a text message.

Claire exhaled noisily and plunged her hand into her beaded handbag on her lap. She pulled out her new, sleek blue Motorola KRZR. Somehow Todd had gotten hold of her phone and programmed it to beep really loudly every time she received a text message. She still hadn't found out how to fix it yet.

She flipped it open and glanced at the screen.

**1 New Message From: Unknown Sender**

**Unknown:** A Dare for Claire: hook up with Derrick Harrington on prom night when he receives his Prom King crown. This one task will do three things a) make Cam jealous b) make Massie hate you and c) tell the whole school about your little relationship with Derrick. See? This kills three birds with one stone. If you don't do it, the stone will kill you.

Claire shuddered at the text. This one would probably be the worse one she's received. The stone will kill you? A chill spread through her body.

She quickly deleted the text message. She should've probably told Massie about it, but something told her not to.

Claire went back to thinking about how magical prom was going to be tonight. She pushed the thought of the scary text messages and replaced them with happier thoughts about her dress.

She had bought the dress with her mother. It was a simple, modest blue dress that did wonders for her eyes. It had been the last one in her size and it was on sale. She was happy and her mom was happy so it was all good.

In fact, her mom was so happy that they had bought matching shoes and a sparkly silver handbag as well. When they went home, dragging their purchases along, her mom actually asked Claire to change into the dress and to take pictures in them. Claire had gone along with it, feeling embarrassed and annoyed at Todd pulling faces behind their mother when she was taking the pictures. She knew that her mom was going to take more photos on the actual prom night and had planned to hide the camera from further embarrassment in front of Cam.

Claire sighed. Sometimes she wished she was Massie, who always acted calm and collected; as if nothing fazed her. She needed that kind of attitude.

Her mind wandered back to the disturbing text message that she had received. She couldn't do this to Cam, not after what he had bought her for their three year anniversary present. Claire fiddled with the heart shaped charm on a silver chain-linked Tiffany bracelet.

Cam had taken her out to dinner to her favourite restaurant, Purple Haze. He had somehow gotten hold of a bottle of Cristal champagne and had poured her a glass, which had made her feel all tingly. Then, just before desert, he had pulled a robin-egg blue Tiffany box. But that's when it had all gone wrong...

* * *

_Flashback_

**Purple Haze Restaurant**

**Table 23**

**Friday, 4 September**

**8.30 pm**

"Claire, this is for you."

Cam pulled out an all too familiar robin-egg blue Tiffany jewellery box. Claire gasped at the size. Could it be...

"No, it's not what you're thinking of," Cam chuckled, reading her mind. He put it in her open palm and closed her fingers around it. "It's just a little something I picked up as a token of our three year anniversary."

Claire smiled at the thoughtfulness. But inside, she felt like scum. She couldn't tell him, not now after he's done all this for her. She loved him so much and didn't want to hurt him. But the problem was she wasn't IN love with him like she had been two months ago. Claire was in love with someone else.

"Thank you," Claire whispered. "You didn't have to do all this."

"But I wanted to," Cam smiled. "Only the best for the girl I love."

Claire cringed at the "L" word but covered it up with a small smile. Her glance and attention then turned to the little blue box in her palm.

Gingerly, she opened the box and she saw that nestled on a cloth of blue velvet was a simple silver chain-linked bracelet with a heart charm attached to it. Claire chocked up at the sight of it.

"It's beautiful," Claire managed to splutter out. Then she pushed her chair away and stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom."

Cam smiled. "Sure!"

Claire scuttled away, her black clutch in her hands. She locked herself in her stall and took her cell out.

**3 New Messages From: Derrick H**

She opened the first one.

**Derrick:** I miss you! I'm waiting for the day we can make us public (:

**Derrick:** How you doing, babe? Missing you even more! xxoo

**Derrick:** I can't believe that I have the coolest girl in the world as my girlfriend. Well, I don't HAVE you yet. ;p Text back!

Claire smiled at the messages but her smile turned into a sad frown when she thought about sweet Cam out there, waiting for her.

She and Derrick had been secretly going out for about two months now. He had been there for her when she and Cam had fought and had threatened to hurt her. But one thing had led to another and suddenly, one day, Derrick had kissed Claire. And she had kissed him back.

But Claire didn't have the heart to dump Cam, not this close before prom. Cam had asked her to the prom about six months in advanced and it would have been sad to him. Besides, Derrick was Cam's best friend and didn't want to hurt him.

Well, they probably didn't realise doing this was going to hurt him worse. How love blinds young people sometimes...

Derrick was about to go to prom with no date, to signify that he would rather go dateless than to go with anyone else but Claire, but when Massie had asked him, Claire had urged him to say yes. Massie was her best friend after all and she trusts Derrick not to do anything with her.

Reluctantly, Derrick had said yes to her but not before he had given her a silver heart-shaped locket strung on a silver chain. He had clasped it on her neck himself, his fingers trembling.

Claire texted him back, hinting that she had to back to her date. She tossed her phone back into her clutch and unlocked herself from the stall, fiddling with the silver heart-shaped locket around her neck.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, until Cam had flashed her a room card for a king suite for the Four Seasons hotel. Claire had mumbled an incoherent excuse and pushed her way past him before he could give her a goodnight kiss. She had felt queasy and didn't trust herself not to puke into Cam's mouth.

She went into her house without another word and left Cam out on her porch, puzzled and hurt, wondering what he had done wrong, when it was actually Claire that had done wrong.

* * *

_Flashforward_

**Jakkob's Salon**

**Seat 5**

**Wednesday, 23 September**

**9.00 pm**

Claire's phone buzzed again. She was about to not answer it but then thought it might be important.

She pried her phone out of her purse and flipped it open, fearing to see who the text was going to be from.

**1 New Message From: Derrick H**

A wave of relief flew through her. She happily opened the message.

**Derrick:** Hey hunny, prom tonight! I wish I can share it with you, the girl I love. But I promise that I'll dance with you tonight. Love you, D.

Claire smiled at the text message. He was so sweet.

But then, so is Cam.

She shook her head, earning another dirty look from Jai. He immediately ran to her side to check if any hair had gotten loose from the ponytail. He sighed with relief to find out that all hair was still intact in the ponytail.

Then, Massie's hair was done. It looked gorgeous. But this wasn't the time to be jealous, no, instead, Claire was getting excited about tonight. But she wished that her only problem right now was that her hair wasn't staying in place.

* * *

Done, _Claw said, satisfied. _I just hope that she's gonna do what she's been told to do.

_Claw glanced at the screen, her eyes travelling down. It landed on number 5 on her list._

_5) Dylan_

_Claw snickered. The most insecure of the Pretty Committee. This was going to be easy target._

_Claw rubbed her hands together and smiled. _Get ready, Dylan_, Claw thought, _this is going to hurt more than liposuction.

* * *

**_Another chappie up! Hope you guys are enjoying readin this as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Wow....... that sounded lame.... 0o0_**

**_Review, review, review! Helps me update ;)_**

**_SkexHIGH_**


	5. Green Is Not The Colour Of Envy

**Green Is Not The Colour Of Envy.  


* * *

**

_**Merri-Lee Marvil, one of Westchester's most well known and loved citizens with her successful television programme, The Daily Grind. **_**The Westchester WAG **_**was lucky enough to score an interview with her.**_

_**WWAG: So, Merri-Lee, how is proud is your family with your success?  
Merri-Lee: Family? (Laughs) What family? All my family has ever done for me was drag me down.  
WWAG: Um, what about your daughter, Dylan? I bet she's your motivation behind all that success  
Merri-Lee: Dylan? (Scoffs) All she's ever done is hold me BACK. Every time I have an important interview, she complains about how I'm going to miss some stupid school play she's going to be in. She makes SUCH a big deal out of it but it's not like she's the star of the play or anything.  
WWAG: Oh, um, I see. But she comes first, right? Before your work?  
Merri-Lee: If she did, I wouldn't be in this interview right now, would I?  
WWAG: Right, thank you for your time.  
Merri-Lee: No, thank you for interviewing me.**_

_**- Extract from the unpublished version of Merri-Lee Marvil's interview for **_**The Westchester WAG.

* * *

**

**Jakkob's Salon**

**Seat 6**

**Wednesday, 23 September**

**8.55 pm**

Dylan looked in horror and awe as Massie's hair came off in clumps from the spazzing scissors. She shuddered at the thought of it happening to her own hair.

Unlike the rest of the Pretty Committee, she hadn't received any scary text messages.

Until today.

Cassidy, her hairdresser, had commented on how beautiful her hair was. Dylan had just smiled. She knew that her hair was her best feature. It was soft, thick and wavy. Everyone, even Massie herself had thought that she had the best hair of all the Pretty Committee.

Dylan had smiled throughout the whole hair primping session since every other minute, Cassidy had been commenting how easy it was to work with her hair.

But however gorgeous her hair was, she still hated her size 4 body. She was by far the "largest" Pretty Committee and she hated having the label. Massie was the Alpha, Alicia was the sexy one, Kristen was the brain, Claire was the sweetie and she was the fat girl.

Cassidy felt Dylan's body stiffen and asked what was wrong. Dylan smiled through the mirror and reassured her nothing was wrong, even though just before Massie's hair accident she just had a nervous breakdown.

* * *

_Flashback_

**Outside of Jakkob's Salon**

**The pathway**

**Wednesday, 23 September**

**8.30 pm **

"Oh my God, you're hair is totally GORGEOUS!" Cassidy, the hairdresser squealed in delight. Dylan smiled at this attention, acting all nonchalant though inside, she was brimming with happiness.

"Thanks," Dylan waved it off casually and leaned back in her plush seat.

"So. What do you want me to do for your hair today?" Cassidy asked, running her hair through her fingers.

"Hmm... You know what? You can do whatever you like with my hair, as long as it looks good," Dylan said.

"Are you serious?!" Cassidy asked, turning the chair around to look at Dylan's face. She nodded.

"Sure. It's not like I have anything in mind anyway," Dylan shrugged and turned the chair back around.

"Yay!" Cassidy's high pitched voice pierced the air. Dylan smiled and closed her eyes.

Cassidy leaned the chair backwards and started to wash her hair. After a lather and rinse, she got out a pair of scissors. Dylan's eyes flew open as she felt her hair being tugged back.

"You're going to be cutting my hair?" Dylan asked.

"Just a trim," Cassidy said "it's going to look even more gorgeous. Trust me."

Dylan shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "If it turns out bad, I'll totally sue you."

She saw Cassidy wince through the mirror and felt satisfied. She closed back her eyes.

Dylan felt her hair being tugged and snipped. As she started to doze off, she felt her pocket vibrate. She pulled out her bejewelled iPhone out and glanced at the screen.

**1 New Message From: Unknown Sender**

Dylan tapped the screen and the message popped open.

**Unknown Sender:** Tell everyone how you fitted into that pretty little size 2 dress of yours or I will make sure your GORGEOUS hair is ruined and spill all your puke dirty little secrets. Your choice.

Attached to the message was a picture of Dylan, puking into a porcelain toilet. Her usually bouncy hair was limp and a putrid shade of orange and the parts that you could make out of her face was pale and mascara streaked. It was not a very flattering picture.

Dylan gasped and she felt her hair fall around her.

"What?! What did I do wrong?!" Cassidy screeched as she flailed her arms around.

Dylan took a deep breath before closing the message down in one swift motion. "Don't worry. It wasn't you. Can I take a smoke outside for a while?"

Cassidy, who was practically hyperventilating, calmed down. "Su-u-re," she stuttered and opened the door for Dylan who stood up with her bag slung across her lower arm. She quickly stepped out through the door and closed the door behind her.

She walked for a little while around the block before walking back and lighting up a cigarette. She placed it in her mouth and took a long drag before blowing out steam. She felt the calming affects immediately and greedily took another long drag.

Dylan closed her eyes and calmed down, just a little. She had been trying to quit for a while but in times like these, she had to succumb.

Just as she felt like she could go back in again, she got another text message.

**Unknown Sender: **I'm going to get you next and end your miserable little life tonight. Don't cry; instead thank me for making it end so easily.

Dylan gasped and tears came back to her eyes. Massie then burst out of the hairdressers and saw Dylan crying.

"Hey! What's wrong, Dyl?"

Dylan shook her head and wiped the tears away. "Nothing."

Massie put her arms around Dylan and she stiffened. She hated looking weak in front of her Alpha.

But as Massie was calming Dylan down, she broke down and pulled out her iPhone. She showed Massie the text message that she had just received.

_Better keep the other one a secret,_ Dylan thought to herself, _I don't want everyone to know about my bulimia._

* * *

_Flashforward_

**Jakkob's Salon**

**Seat 6**

**Wednesday, 23 September**

**8.55 pm**

As Cassidy was putting on finishing touches on her hair, Dylan began to relax a little. Nothing bad was going to happen to her hair.

But Cassidy then pulled out some foil and started to mix up some sort of paste in a little pot. Dylan sat up, alert.

"Um, what are you doing?" Dylan asked, her voice going up at the end.

"Oh my GAWD! You HAVE to let me do highlights in your hair... it's going to look totally GAWJUS!"

Dylan looked at Cassidy. She had a pleading look on her face. She softened a little.

"Ok, fine. But that's it, ok?"

Cassidy squealed and clapped her hands together before going back to mixing up the concoction. Dylan sucked in through her teeth and turned around. She opened the magazine she was reading back up and started to scan through the "What's hot: What's not" section.

A few minutes later, she felt her hair being tugged again. Through the mirror, she could see Cassidy putting on green gloop on her hair.

"What colour highlights are you putting on? Why is the paste green?" Dylan asked, her voice getting shrill.

"Well you see, I'm putting on red highlights but the paste colour is actually green. So don't worry; it's going to turn out golden-red, 'kays?" Cassidy reassured her, flipping foil on a piece of hair.

After a while of rhythmic glooping and foil flipping, Dylan's head was finally foiled. Cassidy smiled at her handiwork and washed her hands and equipment while waiting for the colour to dry. Dylan just sat there, since she couldn't move her head without getting a slap from Cassidy. She listlessly flicked the pages of her magazine, not really reading what was on the page but instead silently praying that her hair was going to be ok.

20 minutes later, Cassidy came back; ready to de-foil Dylan's hair. She handed Dylan a pink, satin blindfold and told her to put it on.

"Uh, why?" Dylan looked at the piece of material in her hand with disgust.

"Because I want the result to be a surprise!" Cassidy squealed, clapping her hands together. Dylan rolled her eyes.

"No. I am NOT wearing a blindfold." Dylan pouted and threw the silk mask on the floor for emphasis.

Cassidy sighed and picked it up off the floor. "Fine. Have it your way."

She threw the now-dusty mask on her tray and started to de-foil Dylan's hair. When she had finished, Cassidy quickly wheeled over the portable shampoo station and washed Dylan's hair. Dylan calmed down as Cassidy started to massage her scalp in a soothing motion.

When Dylan's hair was all wet, it was dried and fluffed up in the towel. This whole process had been done in ten minutes.

"There! All done," Cassidy smirked. "Now just wait for another ten minutes and let the dye soak into your hair."

Dylan leaned back in her seat and checked her phone for messages. She had one.

**Unknown Sender:** Sweetie, I don't want to say it but... I told you so. I never back down on my words. And since you're not spilling... well... good luck at obtaining your "Best Prom Hairdo" title.

Dylan instinctively touched her towelled hair and fear drenched her heart. What was going to be underneath the towel...

"Ten minutes is up!" Cassidy said, looking excited. Dylan looked at her suspiciously. Could she be the unknown sender?

"Ready?" Cassidy got ready to pull the towel open. Dylan took a deep breath.

"3, 2, 1..."

Dylan gasped.

Her fiery red hair tumbled down her back. On it sported perfectly applied highlights...

... in green.

"Eh. Ma. Gawd. What the FUCK did you do to my hair?!" Dylan screamed hysterically, tears streaming down her face. She turned to Cassidy and saw that she, too, was on the verge of a heart attack.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod..." Cassidy muttered with a wild look in her eyes. She looked over to her work tray and picked up the dye bottle she had used to highlight Dylan's hair. She looked at the bottle and saw that the colour was 'Tiger's Eyes', the colour the dye was supposed to be.

She flipped the bottle over and saw that the label was peeling off. But underneath, instead of showing the white bottle surface, she saw that it had another label underneath. She ripped the one on top off and saw the true colour of the dye.

'Emerald Green'.

Cassidy saw her career flash over her eyes before fainting onto the floor in a heap. Dylan flicked her head around, her green streaked hair hitting her face. She saw Cassidy's limp body on the ground and the bottle in her hand. Dylan picked it up and saw the hanging label on the bottle and realised the same thing that Cassidy had realised.

The rest of the Pretty Committee had seen the whole commotion and ignoring protest of their hairdressers went over to Dylan and comforted her.

"Hey, the green's not so bad!" Claire piped up. "It brings out your eyes."

Massie glared at her and shut her up. Dylan looked up her mascara-streaked eyes at Massie's perfectly done amber ones. She held up the dye bottle and showed it to Massie.

"Mass, someone sabotaged the dye bottle. I think Cassidy was as much of a victim as I was."

Massie gingerly clasped her hand around the bottle and saw the peeling tag.

"Are you sure? Cassidy did seem really excited to dye your hair..." Massie commented. Dylan shook her head.

"She wouldn't do something like this to endanger her own job. Also, she doesn't have a motive." And my number, Dylan mentally added.

Jakkob came over and saw Cassidy in a heap. He clicked his fingers and two other hairdressers came over, picked up Cassidy's limp body and bought her to the back of the salon. He clicked his finger again and another hairdresser came over. Her silver nametag bored "Violet".

"Miss Marvil, I am so sorry for the incident," Jakkob said smoothly. "I never should have never set you up with a trainee."

"Yeah you totally shouldn't have. And I'm totally going to sue you on Dylan's behalf." Alicia sneered. Jakkob blinked but looked unfazed.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm now setting you up with Violet, our most senior stylist after me, and six months worth of free hair appointments."

"No offence, but after this incident, I'm not going anywhere near your salon," Dylan muttered. She gave him the dye bottle with the hanging tag. "Your salon is totally sabotaged. Someone stuck another label on top of this one."

Jakkob looked at it and gave it back to Dylan.

"This bottle of crap is not what we use in out salon," Jakkob scoffed. "Someone must have bought it in and put it into Cassidy's tray."

Dylan felt a chill run down her back. The back of her neck prickled up and she swore someone was watching her. She turned around to face the window but all she saw was the reflection of her own scared face.

* * *

That was all too easy, _Claw laughed. _Now she's out of the running of getting best hair, maybe I'll get it...

_Claw snickered again. It was so much fun, seeing the Pretty Committee squirming like this. Claw got a kick out of it._

_Claw's eyes looked at the phone screen and smiled as she saw the next and final name._

Kristen.

_Claw smiled and crossed the final name off with relish as she thought about what Kristen should do. _Her brains are going to come handy, _Claws thought. _And if she fails... well, that won't be an option.

* * *

_**Yay finally updated again! Phew. Where I live we just started our summer holidays so hopefully Imma going to be updating most of my stories... so look out for them!**_

_**SkyexHIGH**_

_**p.s... 18 more sleeps 'till xmas! Exciting... :D**_


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